The Moment
by Anjel Starlight
Summary: Kurt had said "Yes" once, even when Blaine had not really been proposing; so he knows Kurt will do so again. Now if Rachel would stop interrupting, everything would be perfect. A story of how Rachel kept ruining Blaine's proposal until she almost ruined his relationship with Kurt too. AU.
1. The Moment

**A/N: Well, if this isn't a come back I don't know what is. Anyways, this story is technically a sequel to _Birthday Sext_ but it can stand alone (8 thousand words you think it would be able to). You can read it if you want to, but I make very little reference to it that I went ahead and decided to post this on its own. I really already promised I would write this but one of my reviewers, , very nicely asked for this. Here it is! So really, that's it. I'll be posting more stuff next week because I have most of it off from work.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted. This is a work of fan fiction.**

**Please excuse any mistakes, I still do not have a beta.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

February 14th

This was it.

Blaine had been planning for weeks and this was it, the time had finally arrived: He was asking Kurt to marry him.

The very thought still sent shivers down his spine.

Their relationship had been building up to this ever since they started dating again. It took them a while to get back into the "groove" of things because they had only been friends after their breakup and things had still been so confusing; sudden, even.

Kurt had kept to his word though; he did not regret anything after he woke up in the morning to find himself in Blaine's arms. That in itself was a huge step.

Sure, they were far from the perfect couple, they fought. It was different now, though, because they would no longer brood until the one in the "wrong" (usually the one that felt the guiltiest) would apologize first. Now it was about space for reflecting (the bigger the fight, the longer the length of reflection) before they both came together to talk and resolve it. Like adults.

Even more than that, the love was still there. It had morphed over their separation, but only seemed to come back stronger than either had ever thought possible.

That is why today was the day.

"Blanket: check. Coats: check. Gloves -and- earmuffs: double check," Blaine nodded along with his mental check-list (he could not chance Kurt finding out that he was planning anything out of the Valentine's Day norm, so he had not written the list down) before he zipped the duffle bag shut. He had everything to make this day special and perfect for Kurt, now all he had to do was wait until he got home from work.

Hazel eyes glanced at the kitchen clock, _Right, on time. He should be here in a few minutes._

When a few minutes turned into ten, Blaine had decided he could sit and watch some television until his boyfriend came home. Kurt probably just got held up at work a few minutes more than planned and missed his usual train, or maybe he decided to try to get back early today and took a cab that got stuck in traffic. Any way he tried to reason it, Blaine knew Kurt would have text him to let him know because it was Valentine's Day and so the blue-eyed man could rant about whatever reason he was late.

It would be fine though. There was no set time that they had to arrive; Blaine had made sure of that when he had planned this whole outing. He did not want there to be a chance that something would go wrong. The setting was Central Park, one of the well-populated areas, even at night. They would pick up sushi from Kurt's favorite Japanese restaurant to eat while they lay out on a blanket in a small clearing that Blaine had found on one of his runs. He wanted it to seem like it was only the two of them, tell Kurt how much he loved him and how much he looked forward to the rest of their lives together. How he could not wait until they began the next part of their lives together.

Literally, he could _not_ wait.

Blaine would pull out the ring and give the little speech he had been practicing in the shower (because Kurt could not have _any_ chance of overhearing) every day for the last week. Kurt would cry and make Blaine cry in turn because he would say: "Yes"; it would be beautiful and magical, just like any other happily ever after.

Then ten minutes turned into thirty.

The traffic idea was now more plausible, but Kurt still had not text or called him. To say Blaine was a little worried was like saying that the Big Apple was just that, a big apple.

Blaine, in order to distract himself from all the things that could have happened to Kurt (lying in a ditch, kidnapped...), he began to replay how tonight was going to go over and over in his head; because despite this little set back, Blaine still wanted this night to be perfect for Kurt.

The curly-haired man had not even realized he had fallen asleep until the loft door was being slid open and chatty Rachel came darting in followed by his disgruntled looking boyfriend. He sat up straighter while rubbing the fuzziness from his eyes, keeping his gaze on Kurt.

"—like a nightmare! Can you believe her?" Though the small Jewish girl seemed to be complaining about something or someone very vehemently, she had a huge smile on her face.

_I'll really never understand her._

"No, Rachel, I can't," Kurt gritted out and huffed as he went about removing his light jacket and scarf, glaring at the items as he put them away; though clearly, he wanted to glare somewhere else completely. The brunette waited until the girl turned to leave the living-room before he turned a full bitch-glare at her back.

The hazel eyed man looked fondly at Kurt while he stretched the stiffness from his muscles and glanced at the clock, and immediately sighed. It was far too late to go out into the park now; at least when Blaine had planned it, they could have enjoyed some of the night air while they were on their way back to the apartment... where they were -suppose- to have it to themselves.

He had specifically told Santana to keep Rachel out of the apartment tonight. Of course he told the Latina why, but avoided the news to get back to Rachel because she could not keep a secret (_Worth shit_.).

So clearly, something had gone wrong; because there Rachel was, in her room, dragging Kurt in late, on _Valentine's Day_.

_This sucks,_ Blaine let his head fall back against the couch, _my plan, completely ruined. I don't even think I can salvage this with the look on Kurt's face. Nothing was perfect about today._

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, blue eyes looking sad and frustrated. The taller man walked over Blaine, holding his hands out for the curly-haired man to take into his, which he did, and proceeded to pull Blaine up from the couch, and then leading them to their room. "She was waiting outside my work and dragged me to our coffee shop, and ranted at me about how Santana had kidnapped her and tried to make her watch The L-word."

Kurt maneuvered them behind the curtain with ease situating Blaine on the bed before he began to remove his own boots, followed by his socks and sweater. Once he was comfortable in Blaine's lap, Kurt sat across Blaine's thighs with his arms wrapped securely around his boyfriend's broad shoulders, he continued.

"It's _Valentine's Day_, which I tried to tell her many times, so it was ridiculously crowded in there; full of desperate fools hoping for scraps off Cupid's table," the blue-eyed man groaned and rolled his eyes, "but still she didn't listen. So I had to sit there for _two hours_, because we both know how she talks, before she even decided to look around. Even then, she only wanted to leave because of all the couples, _not _because she thought that I could possibly be up to something on Valentine's. She is so freaking selfish sometimes! _Then_ instead of take the train, she wants to take a taxi! It was already rush-hour! Thick-skulled little—Ugh!"

The hazel-eyed man was laughing by the end of Kurt's rant. He was upset that things did not go the way he wanted them to, but it was ridiculous how wrong they went and how they went wrong. Honestly, who would have thought that _Rachel "Kitten-Sweaters"_ Berry would have escaped _Santana "Snixx" Lopez_, only to go and kidnapped Kurt right outside of his work, on _Valentine's_. As his laughter died down he ran his fingers through the fine hairs on the back of Kurt's head, massaging gently to try and get his riled lover to calm down.

"I hate her!" The blue-eyed young man shouted purposefully loud before his bottom lip popped out in a pout and those big clear-ocean-water blue eyes turned to Blaine's, "She ruined our V-day."

"Aw, Kurt," Blaine smiled fondly, a hand coming up to frame the taller man's chin, his thumb tracing the pouting bottom lip, "Valentine's Day isn't over. Yeah, we didn't get a chance to do what I planned, but we've still got some time to spend together." He grinned at Kurt's disgruntled but begrudging look, "Look, how about this? You go take a shower and freshen up, I know how much you _hate_ smelling like cab-driver; and I'll set up the computer and bed for a movie. I'll make sure it's a rom-com with Kate Hudson, _and _I'll even bake some chocolate-chip cookies. That way we can just cuddle your horrible day away."

Kurt glanced down before looking up at Blaine through his lashes, a not-so-coy but beautiful and alluring gaze none the less, "Sounds perfect."

It was not until Kurt was off in the shower that Blaine let himself sigh heavily and curse under his breathe, _It may sound perfect... but it's not _perfect _enough._

* * *

March 15th

Why today?

If anything he should be using the anniversary of them getting back together, not the anniversary of when they first started dating; but it made sense to Blaine, in an odd way. It was not so much that this was the day years ago that they became a couple, but it was _this_ day that Blaine realized that Kurt had his heart, and always would.

_This_ day was the day that he gave his heart away and received one in return.

That's why Blaine chose today to propose. Again.

In fact, today was more appealing as a day to propose because it was more meaningful; because honestly, how many couples proposed on Valentine's anyways? Thousands. Millions.

Kurt and Blaine were -not- a couple of the masses, for many reasons. So Kurt definitely deserved a proposal that he could immediately differentiate from any other when he told the story, because Blaine knew that he would. Many, many times.

That being said, any idea that he tried to come up with to use to propose was not good enough. There was always something that was not right, or too cliché, or not _perfect_. He tried to think of every romantic scene he had ever seen from any movie, especially the ones based in New York; but Blaine discovered that plenty of people used those as temples too.

He could _not_ have their proposal to be cookie-cutter!

It hit him like a train while he was in class a few days before: a private dinner for just two.

Yes, it had been done before. Yes, a -lot- of people had done it before. But it was _perfect_.

Kurt was not much into PDA in the first place. So a private dinner at the apartment, some wine (he still had his fake ID) while they relaxed, love making at the end of the night without fear of interruption, then Blaine would propose while they were bathing in their after-glows. Even more perfect, was that he could disguise the whole night as just a date night, which they had had very little of lately because of both of their schedules (and _very_ nosy room-mates).

This time he was smarter in one aspect: he did not try to keep the date a secret from Rachel. Blaine made sure he told the girl (he knew she was older than him but that does not help her case when he sees her Christmas sweaters... in June, even with her new wardrobe) to stay away from the apartment tonight, every day—including this morning. (He tries to ignore the fact that he was in the right to not tell her what the full plan was because he walked into the room while she was chatter-boxing Kurt on what she was going to be doing tonight—and _why_. Fortunately, Kurt already knew they were having a date-night.)

One thing that Blaine enjoyed the most about their stay-in dinner date, though, was that it did not start at the eating.

They both had got dressed up as if they were going out, as is custom for a date. Instead of Blaine or Kurt cooking, they both cooked together; and with the apartment empty, they both fantasized that this was what their own place would feel like. Kurt made the sauce, because if they were having Italian then he was going to at least _try_ to make it healthy, while Blaine boiled the pasta and made the appetizers (which Kurt supervised).

Once the food was ready, they ate and talked, and generally just looked into each other's eyes. It was peacefully quiet at times, but it was comfortable because there was nothing they needed to say (at least not _yet_).

Blaine moved them to the couch where they fell against each other like two magnets, physically unable to keep apart from one another without some outside force.

A force, which unfortunately, came bursting through the front door. Multiple forces.

"Kurt!" Finn, surprisingly, ran from the door to stand in front of the couple situated on the couch. Not far behind him was a frantic looking Rachel who had her hands up and waving slightly as if it would calm the extremely tall man.

"I'm so sorry! I tried to stop him!"

"Dude! We _need_ to talk," the man bull-dosed over Rachel's apologies and explanations.

Rachel huffed and pushed at the man's chest, not appreciating being talked over and practically ignored, "It's nothing serious! Finn! Let's go!" Her feeble attempts at moving Finn with sheer will-power were practically laughable. In fact, despite how upsetting their evening (especially _this _evening) being interrupted was, Blaine had to turn his face away from the scene to prevent himself from laughing aloud.

"Sorry 'bout all this, Gelmet, Hummelina, but Frankenfoot thinks he has the crisis of the century."

"Not thinks! I do, dude!" Finn moved around Rachel and sat down on the couch next to Kurt, who had to force Blaine over so that the blue-eyed young man would not be sat on. Even despite the space that was made for him, Finn scooted closer to Kurt afterwards, "So bro, will you help me?"

Kurt bit his lip and looked over at Blaine, sharing an exacerbated look that bordered pained before looking back at the man who was his step brother, "I don't even know what—"

Finn cut him off quickly, "Oh! Right!" He cleared his throat loudly, obviously nervous, "I asked Rachel to marry me—"

Both of the other two men on the couch sat up suddenly, shouting, "What?!" in two completely different tones and with different feelings.

"—and I would like you to be the wedding planner, because she said 'Yes'."

"Oh my McQueen!" Kurt exclaimed, his hands flying up to his mouth before he jumped up and took Rachel into a hug. "How could you say this 'is nothing serious'?"

With Finn looking on with a smile, and the two best friends wrapped up in gushing over the ring and how's and when's and what's, they missed the devastated look on Blaine face.

Their night had been taken away from him. The perfect moment that this night had been building up to—gone. All because Finn succeeded where Blaine had failed—twice.

Finn had proposed to Rachel, though. How selfish was he to take this moment away from them?

A hand slid onto Blaine's shoulder. That's when he realized he had been gaping instead of smiling. He glanced up at the owner of the hand and smiled gratefully up at Santana, who in turn was sharing a sympathetic look... because she knew.

_Shit. I just can't catch a break._

Blaine let the warmth of the Latina's hand ground him, seep into him and give him enough strength to recover (however briefly) so that he could congratulate the beaming couple. They all shared tight hugs and gushing praises and clasped hands, so many times over that it was all becoming a little too much for Blaine. Despite how happy he was for his friends, he could not help but be frustrated to the point of enraged; because it was supposed to be them! Kurt and him. It was supposed to be their moment tonight, and now it was not.

Then somewhere from the dark recesses of his mind, a gut-wrenching thought came to Blaine: _Maybe I'm not meant to be with Kurt. This is the universe telling me "No."_

He tried his hardest not to visibly gag at the thought.

There was just no way that it was true, could be true. Look at how far they had come, how far Kurt had allowed Blaine back into his life. How much both of them had changed to make, not only their relationship better, but each other better too.

That is what he continually told himself throughout the night as he let Kurt and Rachel jump the gun on planning the wedding, even though there was no set date. Eventually Blaine was actually able to relax and smile, watching his boyfriend flitter about looking for inspiration from their apartment-turned-color-palate. Though he was still upset that he was unable to propose, Blaine knew that it just was not time for him to do so—their moment tonight had just not been planned perfect enough.

As he held Kurt close to him that night, carding his fingers through those hazelnut-brown locks and stroking Kurt's left ring finger, Blaine felt at peace knowing that the next time would be it...

"Tonight was pretty perfect," Kurt laughed lightly, nuzzling his nose into the side of Blaine's neck, "despite our date being interrupted."

_... because the third time's the charm._

Blaine just pulled Kurt closer.

_Right?_

* * *

May 24th

Two months and nine days of waiting, of planning.

That night Blaine had nearly fallen asleep when the date for _the_ proposal came to him: the anniversary of when he first told Kurt that he loved him. Granted, Blaine had already known at that point that he loved Kurt, but that moment had been the first time he felt so utterly comfortable telling the other boy he did. That's why he said it in a sigh, out of reverence of the moment and the sheer beauty of how blessed he was to have this wonderful boy, to be able to call Kurt his.

What better way to celebrate that moment, then to finalize that first step of love with the last: a marriage proposal?

Since they were both going back to Lima for the week to celebrate Kurt's birthday with his family for the first time since he had moved to New York; Blaine had decided that he would propose at the exact place that he originally proclaimed his love: at their usual table in the Lima Bean.

They flew in Friday evening and did not get in until real late, so late that they both were almost too tired to unpack their clothes before they crawled into bed with each other (almost, because Kurt did not want his clothes to wrinkle more than they had). Blaine had planned to wake up earlier so that he could take Kurt out in the morning for "coffee", but not only did he forget to turn on his alarm, he also forgot to plug his phone in to charge. So when he woke up to see that it was nearly eleven, he was up in a flurry to try and get washed and dressed.

He noticed, when he finally came down stairs, his boyfriend was holed up on the couch with a Vogue magazine in his lap while his dad was watching a pre-game talk-show. Blaine felt a smirk tug at his lips at the sight, because this scene was similar to one that he knew that he would be seeing for the rest of his life.

"Good morning," the curly-haired man said as he finished descending the stairs and came over to the couch, leaning over it to kiss Kurt on his cheek. (Very much grateful that Burt only threw a slight glance in their direction before looking away with a grumbled, "G'mornin'.")

"Morning, Sweetie." Kurt ran his hand over Blaine's freshly shaven jaw and kissed the corner of his mouth in return, before he whispered teasingly, "Did you enjoy your sleep?"

Hazel-eyes rolled up as Blaine straightened himself, "Always making fun of me sleeping in. One of these days—"

"What?" Kurt turned to watch him with narrowed blue eyes.

The other young man quickly looked away, muttering, "Nothing," too innocently. Blaine quickly smiled afterwards and moved to sit next to Kurt cross-legged and facing him, before wrapping the taller man up in his arms and practically pulling him into his lap. "So I was thinking..."

Kurt pursed his lips and hummed, "Mhmm," but otherwise took the curly-haired man's actions in stride, simply flipping the page of his magazine.

"For old times' sake," Blaine drawled out, "if you would like to go on a coffee date with me?"

"Blaine—" he responded with a sigh.

"Please," the shorter man begged, cutting his boyfriend off and hugging him tighter. "It'll be fun! I promise!"

As he leaned his head on Kurt shoulder, Blaine made sure that his eyes were slightly wider than normal, "I'll make it worth your while."

"Son," Burt said simply, causing Blaine to quickly pull away from Kurt and scoot away from the taller young man to give him some room on the couch, afraid he might have pushed the wrong button with Burt.

"Sorry, sir."

He could see Kurt gaping at him from the corner of his eye before he turned a glare at his dad, "Really?" The taller young man roller his eyes when Burt turned back to the TV with rapt attention, "You've seen Rachel and Finn do _far_ worse—You know what? Whatever." He turned towards Blaine, "I'll go with you later, okay? Carol is taking me out to that venue to check out, remember? Rachel has wanted to get married there ever since high school."

"Oh," Blaine whispered, running a hand through his loose, still damp curls, "Yeah, I remember. I don't have a problem waiting."

"Okay, good." Kurt leaned forward and kissed Blaine cheek, "Just in case we have to postpone it until tomorrow. I don't know how crazy Rachel is going to go with this place."

The Jewish girl in question had flown out two days before they did because Kurt's twentieth birthday is a big deal, so it was going to be a special party (and it gave her an excuse to talk and shop wedding). Finn was out of classes for the summer and even Santana was coming in on Monday for two days; but besides it being such a big mile-stone for Kurt, Rachel was really taking over.

_As she always does_, Blaine thought bitterly half an hour later as he watched Kurt leave with Carol and Rachel. _But not today. Today, is going to be a day that Kurt will remember _not_ as a wedding-planner, but as a future husband. _My_ future husband._ He smiled and settled back into the couch as the front door closed behind the leaving party, absolutely _nothing_ was going to get in the way of that.

_After all, third time is the charm._

Even later that thought stayed with him as he drove to the Lima Bean; that, and the feel of a certain cube-shaped box in the pocket of his high-waters. Kurt had text him not too long ago that Carol was dropping him off at the Lima Bean and that he would meet Blaine there for their date. Blaine was in such good a mood that it was finally happening the way he planned, he turned up the radio loud and began to sing along with P!nk and one of her older, more rock numbers.

Then the car gave a sputter and jerked. Blaine's eyes widened and he quickly turned on his hazard lights as the engine died, leaving him to move over to the far lane with the momentum of his speed only before he slowly braked. As he did a quick check for any lights on the dash-board lit up he—was out of gas.

_Damn it!_ Blaine closed his eyes and drew in a breath through his nose, hands gripped the steering-wheel tighter before he release through his mouth a huge sign of frustration. The curly-haired man just shook his head at his silliness and reached for his phone, he only needed to shoot Kurt a quick text and he would walk down to the gas station down the street, borrow one of their canisters, buy gas, fill the car before he was back on the road again...

...except his phone was dead.

Okay, he was running then.

It took him ten minutes to get to the gas station, fifteen to assure the attendant he _would_ return the canister because his car was _just_ down the road, five to fill the canister, and ten more to get back to his car. It took less than three minutes to empty the canister and only three seconds to realize he had a flat tire.

_Bad news really does come in threes._

Forty-five minutes to change the tire because his jack crank kept slipping and he had to keep rolling out, just in case the car dropped, five to return the canister, and twenty to get to the Lima Bean.

By the time Blaine got there he was sunbaked, sweaty, and too tired to be angry anymore.

That was until he walked into the coffee shop and did not see Kurt. He even checked the bathrooms. Nothing.

The devastation of another proposal moment missed gave him just enough adrenaline to take his frustration out on his steering wheel once he had dragged himself back to his car. Blaine felt so defeated, and that just made him angrier. So he hit the leather covered wheel...

Twice—for the two previous missed chances to call Kurt his fiancé.

Three—for the three things that caused him to be late to their coffee date and miss Kurt.

And one last time—for his third failure.

By the time he got his breathing under control Blaine noticed that he had caused a scene and a few people in the parking lot were eyeing him in his car cautiously. With pursed lips he quickly pulled out of the parking lot, only realizing his knuckles were bruised badly from his little episode, after gripping the wheel too tight. He winced at the already purpling flesh before he turned his attention back to the road, he needed to get home. He needed to get to Kurt...

...because Kurt was his home, no matter where they went.

The realization hit him a little late, _God! What he must be thinking happened! I haven't called or texted... or answered his. Shit!_

Blaine was fully expecting a hysterical Kurt by the time he got back to the Hummel residence. Expecting to have his arms full of a crying and slightly angry Kurt, with his hands all over Blaine just to have the physical evidence of the curly-haired young man's safety. Maybe some light yelling for not answering his phone and making Kurt so worried.

What Blaine was not expecting was Kurt to be pissed; so it was quite a shock for the hazel-eyed man when he walked through the front door to have glaring, blue eyes focused on him.

"Kurt?" Blaine was unsure how to approach this, why was Kurt so mad?

"Two hours," Kurt shouted and stood up from the couch and stormed over to Blaine, who flinched. "I waited for you for two hours before I had to call _my dad_ to come pick me up!" The curly-haired man took a step back, alternating his shocked and confused gaze between Kurt's eyes and his erratic gesturing hands, "But it wasn't enough that I was worried _sick_ over what could have happened to you, that I didn't know _where_ you were because you weren't answering your phone, that I worried my dad into a _frenzy—Rachel _has to tell me that she saw you _flirting _with some guy at a gas station when Carol stopped there after dropping me off."

Blaine takes another step back, as if he had been slapped; and with that phantom-pain, came endorphins, adrenaline, that only seemed to build his anger up again. He tried to keep a level head, though; there was no way that Kurt thought he cheated on him. _Right?_

Kurt shook his head violently, gaze turned away from Blaine's, "But I _couldn't _believe that. You wouldn't do that to me—not again." The way his shoulders were set, his arms were hugging his torso, how he would not meet Blaine's gaze told a different story; but as Kurt said, Blaine did not want to believe it. "But you didn't answer your phone. It was _off_."

The short young man took his final step back, his left elbow brushing against the front door, causing Blaine to feel the most trapped he has in a long time. "Did you really believe I did?" When Kurt did not say anything for almost a full minute, Blaine sucked in a breath, before his voice grew harder with the anger that he could no longer keep at bay, "_Did_ you for _one second_ believe I would _cheat_ on you again?"

The silence said everything; and damnit, did it _hurt_.

"I c-can't believe you," Blaine whispered, his voice catching as he tried to get a rein on his breathing again. It took several minutes before he was able to choke back all the raw emotion just enough to breathe. "Did you even _think _that maybe I ran out of gas because _Finn_ forgot to fill it up after he's been using it for days? Or that I forgot to charge my cell because I was just so excite about being back home with you and I couldn't answer, because _literally_ I couldn't answer? Or maybe that when I _did_ get to the gas-station after _running _there that I had to _convince_ the guy there that I would bring back his stupid, _fucking_ gas canister,"—Kurt flinched at his language, but Blaine was on rage; he could _fucking_ curse if he wanted—"and that when I _finally_ got back to the car, it had a _flat_." He balled up a fist and slammed it back against the door, the taller young man jumped, "_All that time_ I was rushing so that I could get to you, because that's all I could think about. You."

"Blaine, I—"

"No," the shorter young man said quickly, firmly, a fiery rage still sitting hot in his chest. "Apparently you don't trust me—" he paused, letting what he was about to say sink in; hating every second of it, to the point he knew he was going to cry, "so that just means you need to think about some things." Blaine held back a gasp as he looked down at the ground, his right fist coming to rest over the cubed-lump in his pocket, "And so do I."

He did not say anything else as he turned around and opened the door, closing it with a soft click behind him; all of his anger draining away, leaving his shredded insides to throb painfully without the buffer of adrenaline to keep it away. Blaine told himself, as he climbed into his car, that if Kurt came out before he got to the end of the drive-way he would forget the whole thing. Burry these feelings and Kurt's thoughts so deep inside himself that he would _never_ see, feel, or think about them again.

He put on his seat-belt, glancing up at the door afterward. It remained closed.

He put the key in the ignition, eyes tailing back to the door before he turned it to start. Still closed.

He closed his eyes before he checked the street behind him for cars and backed (slowly) down the drive-way. Closed.

Blaine pulled out and drove away.

A single tear slipped down his cheek.

It was only as he keyed into his childhood home with his spare, which he remembered that all his clothes were at the Hummel residence. Along with his phone charger. But Blaine held himself together long enough to get upstairs to his old room, close the door, and collapse onto his bed face first before he broke down into sobs. He did not even notice enough to appreciate his mother had changed the sheets or dusted his room, all he could think about was how utterly ruined his life was.

Not only because Rachel Berry somehow ruined each moment he tried to propose to Kurt, but -now- has raised doubts in Kurt's mind... and his.

"It couldn't get any more perfect," Blaine muttered to himself before passed-out from the sun and his emotional rollercoaster ride that just seemed to be spiraling down.

* * *

May 27th

It was barely Kurt's birthday.

Technically for Blaine, it was still the twenty-fifth because he had not slept since he first came back to his childhood home.

Here he was, though, doing laundry at who-knows-what-hour because he had to buy new clothes to wear. He was not ready to go back to the Hummel house until he knew Kurt had thought about and figured out what he wanted; and he certainly did not want to face Burt, even after the many times he's called the house phone. After the first time, Blaine did not make the mistake of picking up the phone without checking the caller-ID.

So here he was, washing his new clothes for Kurt's birthday party tomorrow—today—whatever. Despite their fight, Blaine could not bring himself to miss Kurt's birthday. Just like last year, he was not going to leave Kurt without him on his birthday, because not only was it an important day for Kurt, but it was still an important day for them. It was the one year anniversary of them getting back together.

The thought he had months before about proposing on their anniversary briefly crossed his mind before Blaine shook it away, he did not need to think about those things. Not right now. No matter how much he _wanted_ to.

Blaine sighed heavily as he pulled his dress shirt out of the washer and onto a hanger to air-dry; it was a nicer brand than he is used to getting but he knew Kurt would appreciate seeing Blaine dressed up in designers. He did the same with the pants. As both items were black, it made things easier on him; but now he had to set about washing his vest and bow-tie, both of which were matte, hunter-green with silver pin-stripe stitching. He allowed a song that was as familiar to him as breathing flow through his mind, as he set about setting up the washer, only beginning to sing aloud when Blaine thought he was going to begin to cry if he did not distract himself.

_"Seasons may change, winter to spring..."_

The curly-haired young man jumped when a higher pitched voice picked up the next line before he could finish the natural pause.

_"But I love you, until the end of time."_

Blaine did not bother delaying the inevitable and turned to face the taller man standing in the entrance of his laundry room, looking sheepish but mostly tired with bags so large that they were clearly packed to go on an international trip. "Kurt, I—" he shook his head before he continued softy, "Come what may?"

He watched as a tears slipped down Kurt's cheeks, the flesh of his face already beginning to turn red in a flush, and his eyes beginning to become puffy from the onslaught of tears. Kurt's hair barely resembled his usual perfect quiff, and he was sure that if Kurt saw his current outfit any other day, he would probably have an out right fit. His boyfriend, _Blaine's_ fashionista and designers-only boyfriend, was wearing yoga pants and one of Blaine's old t-shirts. The one that he got back in his fight-club days, the one shirt that Kurt never really approved of but never told him to get rid of it because it "fit Blaine so well and it would kind of be a crime to throw it away." To anyone who saw him, they would probably think Kurt looked like a mess. But Blaine thought he never looked more beautiful.

With Kurt standing in Blaine's laundry room wearing what he was wearing, looking like a wreck, Blaine _knew_ that they would be alright. Kurt's next words only reaffirmed his thoughts.

"Until my dying day," the blue-eyed young man whispered before he sniffed and looked down. "I'm so, _so_ sorry, Blaine. I _love_ you. Please, p-please don't leave me again."

The shorter man's heart nearly shattered and stepped forward quickly, opening his arms and pulling Kurt straight into them, holding the shaking man tighter to him. "Shh, shh. It's alright. I'm not mad anymore, Kurt. I know you are really sorry. So come now," Blaine pulled back slightly, raising one hand to brush the liquid from Kurt's cheeks, "no more tears." He kissed the corner of Kurt's mouth gently, lingering in the simple press of lips.

Then Blaine needed more. He had been lying in a bed on his own for the last two nights, which he had not done once in the near year since Blaine had moved to New York. He had always had Kurt to come to bed to; even if they were mad and fighting: they still had each other to hold in the night.

...and apparently Blaine was not the only one that missed their closeness because the shorter man found his back against the laundry room wall, Kurt pressing desperately against his front. Blaine let his boyfriend clutch at his shirt and press the entire length of their fronts together; even letting Kurt press open mouthed kisses to Blaine's own closed ones. It was not as if he did not want the kisses, he _needed_ them; but Kurt needed to realize more that there was no rush, that the desperation was not what they needed right now.

What they did need was the slow, controlled, and thorough love making that they had not had the time or chance for in quite some time. Blaine needed Kurt to know how much he worshiped and loved him.

Hazelnut-locks slipped easily through his fingers as Blaine carded through those fine hairs on the back of Kurt's head, massaging the neck muscles at the base of his skull wrenching a low moan from him. The curly-haired man was able to pull their lips away easily after that and he smiled, the biggest he had since he had been on his way to propose at the Lima Bean. "Let's shower and sleep. I'm sure we both need it."

Kurt could only nod, slightly blissed out from Blaine's slow, controlled kisses and the massaging fingers.

Once Blaine had Kurt settled in his bathroom with the shower setting on massage and the temperature just right, he padded quickly back into his room. He had been aware of his parents leaving as Kurt and he had ascended the stairs, both of which he was sure let Kurt into the house in the first place; he was eminency grateful for both actions.

He stripped off his shirt and sweatpants on the way to his bedside table; he opened the top draw to reveal a small, cube-shaped, light blue leather box. Tiffany blue, to be exact. Each corner was rounded off to give an almost electronic appeal; but how the box looked did not matter, it's what was inside that did. Blaine stopped admiring the aesthetics of the box and began to think about the aesthetics of the ring on Kurt's left ring finger, as he removed the box from its hiding place and moved back to the bathroom.

His boyfriend was already naked under the warm spray once Blaine got back. He set the box on the sink so that he could join Kurt in his nudeness by stripping his own boxer-briefs off, only to pick the box back up quickly and move into the shower with Kurt. He did not even bother to try and hide the box as Kurt quickly turned to him when the shower door opened and then closed.

Blue eyes brightened as soon as they landed on him; Kurt's full, pink lips pulling into a small smile as those eyes changed into wicked, alluring pools. Blaine watched them shift again to surprise and lust when he knelt in front of Kurt, before it was just surprise when instead of reaching for Kurt he held the box up in full view.

"I love you." Kurt's hand flew up to cover his mouth, eyes staring disbelievingly down at the box in Blaine's hands. "I have tried three unsuccessful times to propose to you over the last three and a half months. Once on Valentine's, the second on the anniversary of us first getting together, and the last a few days ago on the anniversary of me first telling you that I loved you." Blaine laughed lightly, water droplets flying off his curls as he lightly shook his head, and he continued light-heartedly, "I failed each time for some reason or another... but each time I had these different speeches that I would spend hours writing out and memorizing, before sheading them. Just so you wouldn't find out." He took in a deep breath, swallowing down the lump tightening in his throat, "Now that I kneel before you, I can't remember a damn word... but that's okay because all I need to really say is that: I love you. I will love and cherish you forever. Whether you are wearing your own designs or in yoga pants, in eyeliner or puffy-cry-y eyes; I will always want you, and only you. So please, Kurt, my soul-mate, will you give me the greatest honor? Make me the happiest man in the world—of all time? And finally, will you marry me, Kurt Hummel?"

Blaine opened the small, blue box, uncaring that the similarly shaded, silk fabric framing the platinum engagement ring began to get wet... because Kurt was nodding his head even before Blaine was finishing his speech.

"Yes," Kurt gasped, hand hooking on the back of Blaine's head and attempted to pull him up, "a thousand times, yes!"

The shorter man jerked up into a standing position, pressing Kurt into the shower wall as he kissed him full on the mouth, deepening the kiss before Kurt even had the sense to open his mouth on his own. He bounced slightly on his toes as he pulled away for a much needed breath because that was _hot_, "Happy Birthday, Kurt, my fiancé."

Kurt shook his head and leaned his forehead against Blaine's, "Happy Anniversary, Mr. Hummel-Anderson." The taller man simply smirked at Blaine's loud moan and nuzzled their noses together, before he brought his left hand between them, "Now put it on!"

The band itself was platinum and looked simple enough at first glance, but as Blaine slid the ring onto Kurt's ring finger, Kurt noticed the engraved cursive that took him a few swipes of getting rid of steam to read... but there, clear as day engraved along the outside length of the band was: _"I've been looking for you forever."_

Blue-eyes tear up again and Kurt wrapped his arms tightly around Blaine's shoulders, whispering straight into his ear, "And you found me."

A chuckle shook the shorter man's shoulders slightly, "I did." He pulled back, sliding his hands down Kurt's sides before resting firmly on his hips, fingers gripping at the flesh lustfully as he felt the coolness of the band around Kurt's finger against his shoulder. "That's written on the inside."

Kurt moaned into Blaine's ear before he pulled back and looked directing into his fiancé's eyes, "I have a ring for you too." He blushed brightly and let his voice drop and his lashes to flutter, "and I think it's _just_ your size."

The curly-haired man, not one to be left out of double entendres, smirked and let his hands ghost back to Kurt's ass, spreading his cheeks with firm fingers. Blaine let his fingers grip and massage and pull their way between the taller man's cheeks, practically growling out, "I wouldn't mind if it was a little tight."

"Good," Kurt barely responded without whimpering and his knees buckling, "because it adjusts."

"Even better."

Later, after carrying Kurt to bed—"My legs are jelly, Blaine! Jelly!"—and making sure he was comfortable, Blaine quickly set out to clean the bathroom and air it out by opening the window, he settled himself into bed too. But it was short lived as he noticed Kurt's eyes were still puffy and his lips were beginning to crack, seeing as how he could use some water himself Blaine rushed down stairs for two bottles of water and a gel eye-mask for Kurt.

"You are _heaven_ sent!" the taller young man exclaimed as he was handed the water, which he took several gulps of, then felt the chilled mask slip over his eyes.

Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's still exposed lips, "I just know that you want to look your best tomorrow for your party," he leaned closer until his lips brushed sensually against his fiancé's—Blaine was never going to get enough of that word until it turned to "husband"—earlobe as he spoke, "_and_ when you tell _everyone_ that I finally got you."

Kurt laughed and pushed a hand blindly into Blaine's curls, his own lips lazily finding the younger man's ear, giving it a quickly nibble before whispering with hot, puff of breath, "You've always had me."

It goes to say, that _this_ birthday was the greatest one he ever had. No, really, it _was_ the greatest one; especially in comparison to the following one where Blaine practically missed Kurt's birthday and their anniversary because of a freak blizzard. But _that_, is a whole other story.

* * *

**A/N: I congratulate you on making it through this monster. I wrote it and I almost didn't when I edited. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**Anjel Starlight**


	2. The Scene

**A/N: As promised to the fan that asked, the birthday party scene! Sorry that this is a little earlier than I usually post but someone asked to switch shifts with them... so I did. Anyways, thank you so much for taking such an interest in my story that you asked for more. To everyone reading: feel free to ask me for more as well. I'll be more than happy to write practically anything Klaine, and maybe other stuff if you ask nicely enough. **

**Please ignore any mistakes, I ****_still_**** do not have a beta.**

**Warnings: slight Rachel bashing... but she kinda deserves it after ****_The Moment_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted, this is a work of fan fiction.**

* * *

"So how should we do it?"

Blaine smirked, not bothering to look away from the road in front of them, "We could always tell them as soon as we walk in?" The thought of the shocked faces of their family and friends almost too much to keep from laughing. It could also be used as pay-back for no one listening to him when he told them that he was not going to keep Kurt's birthday party a secret from him—reverse surprise!

The quiff-haired not-teen-anymore pressed a finger to his lips and his brow creased, as if he was really thinking about Blaine's suggestion as a real announcement, "No one _would_ ever forget it... but just a tad inconsiderate. Don't you think?"

"Maybe just a little," Blaine responded.

"How about renting one of those banner planes? We could have it say: B popped the Q to K!" Neither was able to keep a straight face at the phrasing and were both sent into fits of chuckles.

Blaine calmed down first, "That's so vague... could take them a while to decipher it."

"True," Kurt immediately agreed, bobbing his head side-to-side in thought. "Finn might not get it until Rachel is putting him into place where he'll stand next to my dad at the actual wedding..."

A silence fell over the two as Blaine thought back and forth about the truth of Kurt's statement, and his own announcement idea. It was almost five minutes before he spoke again, grin lighting up his face. "We could so do a mattress commercial! 'Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson and this is my future husband Kurt Hummel. Do you like sleeping on beds? We do too! In fact, we do more tha—"

"Blaine!" the not-teen-anymore blushed furiously.

"Okay, okay."

Kurt shifted in his seat, exchanging which leg crossed of which as he thought of his own 'formal announcement', "We could—just let Rachel do it for us," the taller man joked, "I just flash her the ring and she'll go all shrill-y." Blaine rolled his eyes at Kurt's enthusiastic nod, "_That_, will also, never be forgotten."

"But probably," the curly-haired man began to reason, in an overly serious manner, "not the best way to instill a peace between you because, now that you are both brides—" he only winced slightly at getting hit in the arm by Kurt, "—then she'll want to know _how_, and then she'll find out that she ruined every time that I tried to propose, and not to mention she'll be totally jelly—" Blaine also purposely ignored Kurt's scolding of: _"Don't say jelly!"_, "—over how much _better_ your ring is than hers."

The shorter-man glanced at Kurt several times while trying to keep his eyes on the road but watch his _fiancé's_ facial expressions change. After almost a minute of a slide show of said changing expressions, Kurt leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest, muttering in an attempted indignant (that really only came out smug) voice, "You have a point."

"We could always send out a mass text with a picture of the ring?" Blaine said with a shrug. This game was just too fun.

"Or a tweet!" The taller man bounced his leg in excitement, "We should totally send out a tweet!"

"We could also just change our relationship status on Facebook to married."

They both laughed.

"No," Blaine said after a few moments of them collecting themselves. "We should probably tell our parents and siblings before everyone else." He purposely avoided saying 'family' because technically Rachel _was_ family, but with her knowing of their engagement was like telling everyone all at once anyways (most probably just from the sound of her voice alone spreading across the country). "Mom would murder me if she and dad found out with everyone else. You _know_ how much she hates her shocked face."

"Yes, yes," Kurt agreed with a nod, "Dad would throw a fit, and I don't need his blood-pressure any higher. He's been so good lately, and I want him to at least let me marry you before he killed you."

The curly-haired man snapped a look at Kurt, "Hey!" But Blaine's fiancé just shrugged and waved a hand at him. "Can I at least enjoy the honeymoon?"

"Depends how well you beg," blue-eyes were focused on the cuticles of his right hand, but the illusion of Kurt's nonchalant attitude was ruined by his slightly upturned lips.

_Oh, we can play _this _game,_ Blaine smirked and dragged his gaze as slowly as he dared (with the road begging to be watched) down Kurt's profile, whispering, "I am _very_ good at begging."

A tingling shock went down Kurt's spine, making him shiver from the top of his head all the way down to his Doc Martens. The whole ordeal—because _Oh my McQueen, really?_—left him fanning himself slightly with his hand, shifting in his seat and trying to conger up pictures of Rachel's high-school wardrobe. _Um... That didn't work…_ That short time where Blaine thought he was bi from kissing Rachel—Blaine's lips—kissing Blaine. _Damnit! Get it together Hummel!_ Kurt smiled suddenly, leaning back in his seat and his hand fell to his chest—touching the ring currently hanging around his neck, _Hummel-Anderson._

"We're here."

Kurt glanced outside the window at the restaurant, thoughts about 'cooling off' long gone. He knew where and when and all of the details of his birthday party, but he still felt compelled to criticize _this_ place in _this_ town. Nothing about Lima made him want to come back, and with the redistricting his old home (and subsequently his father and Carol) was no longer in Lima; but Kurt let his friends have the nostalgia...

_Breadstix._

...but he absolutely refused to fake being surprised; even when Rachel decided to take Kurt's lack of said reaction out on Blaine.

"It's a _surprise_ party! Kurt was supposed to be _surprised_! That's the whole point of a _surprise_ party!"

_Say surprise like that one more time and I'm going to surprise you with a napkin in your mouth... maybe eight,_ Kurt thought to himself, making it look like he was in turn ignoring Rachel seeing as how she was leaving him out the of the conversation, even with him standing. Right. There.

"Look, Rach, I'm sorry your _surprise_—" when Blaine finger quoted the words he tried his hardest not to smile at Kurt's mouthing 'I love you', "—didn't work but I was not going to force Kurt to act like he was when he knew about the whole thing. Besides, I _told_ you that I didn't want it to be a surprise party. How surprised would Kurt honestly be going to a restaurant _on_ his birthday, _in_ his hometown, with his family _and_ friends conveniently busy?"

Apparently though, she was having none of Blaine's reasoning because she promptly stormed off.

"—because I'm right," the curly-haired man weakly called after her, rolling his eyes before he looked over at Kurt and offered his arm to his fiancé, "Shall we mingle?"

"Oh, yes," Kurt took the pro-offered arm, "we shall."

After only thirty minutes of greetings, quick catching-up stories and birthday wishes, Burt Hummel climbed onto the small stage and fore-went the microphone since the party of people were barely thirty strong.

"Hello all," he said in a deep but clear voice. "You all know who I am, so there's no need for introductions seeing as how we all know who we are here for. Kurt, will you come up here son?"

The said not-teen flushed but smiled and stepped away from Blaine and his parents to join his own father on stage.

"Now before we get into the karaoke contest that I know you are all dying to start," laughs rang out through the room at the truth of the words, "I would like to say a few words to you about my son." Burt smiled and pulled Kurt into his side, "You all know him and don't have to hear me babble about how great he is and not already know it yourselves, but I'm gonna do it a little anyways." Everyone laughed again, smiles spreading throughout the crowd. "He's twenty today, and that is a great accomplishment in itself; but he works at Vogue and goes to the top musical theater school in the country. You've come so far, Kurt. I know your mom is proud of you and watches over you every second; and I am just as proud. Even with our differences and the misunderstandings, I somehow raised you in a way that you became a man to be proud of." Burt glanced over at Blaine meaningfully, "Even when you go through some rough patches, you always handled it like an adult, way before you were supposed to be one. I'm so proud of you; I don't think you'll ever know how much. I love you son, Happy Birthday."

The two embraced tightly and Kurt whispered his thanks into his father's ear, taking the stage for himself as Burt stepped down and moved back over to Carol. "Well, as hard as it was to not tear up at," Kurt got a few chuckles of his own from the crowd, "I just want to quickly thank all of you for coming and—Let the party begin!"

Cheers rang out and music picked up by the DJ while Rachel quickly got on stage and took one of the mics from the its stand and point at Kurt to go to another one as the melody for _Dancing Queen_ became recognizable. Everyone in the room laughed at the girl's eagerness but cheered for Kurt to join non-the-less, which he did only a little begrudgingly—it _was_ from Mama Mia after all.

It was all fun and laughter, Rachel trying to sing the song to do it justice but Kurt was having too much fun by shimmying that it was causing her to laugh and joke along with him. The (not so) impromptu audience cheered and danced along, and the overall feeling of the party was light-hearted.

...until Rachel jokingly pushed Kurt's chest lightly and felt what was hanging around his neck.

At first, she did not think much of it. Kurt wore all types of jewelry all the time, Rachel had seen it herself. So a necklace was not that out of place—but there in itself was the problem. When Kurt wore something, it was always to show it off, to twist the fashion lines and blend the genders a little. The fact that Kurt was hiding this necklace under his shirt was curious—disturbing even.

She tried to place what the necklace had felt like with reasons on why he would be hiding it from everyone; and she did all this while continuing to sing and smile, because she was an actress through and through.

...until she stopped altogether to stare at Kurt, shocked.

Her mouth opened before she could even think about _why_ Kurt might be hiding _this_, "Blaine proposed?!"—or pull the microphone away from her mouth.

The melody continued on playing but any other sound throughout the restaurant died and everyone's attention was on Kurt, him and his thoroughly shocked face. Some guests turned their attention to Blaine himself, who had an equally shocked look on his face before he turned his eyes to his parents, his mom's face already growing red.

He covered his face with right hand and rubbed his eyes.

_Oh, this is going to get ugly soon if we don't do damage control,_ Blaine thought to himself rubbing at his eyes before he removed his hand and set down his drink so that he was free handed as he moved up to the stage. Kurt was looking at him, his eyes clearly showing that he was completely not prepared for this to happen; and neither was Blaine, but he a lot faster at adapting to a sudden situation than Kurt.

Once he was on stage he smiled at his fiancé gently, his hands moving to the back of his neck where the necklace was latched. "I love you," Blaine whispered and kissed Kurt's cheek when the taller man responded in kind. He pulled the necklace from Kurt's shirt, ignoring the gasps in the room as the ring came into view. He removed the ring from the necklace and pulled Kurt's left hand up so that Blaine could slip the ring back into its rightful place.

They shared a smile before Blaine turned to announce to the crowd, "I proposed early this morning. Obviously," the shorter man wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, "he said 'Yes.' Though _this_, was certainly not the way we wanted to tell everyone."

It was silent for only a beat before they were getting congratulations and well-wishes from all directions. Blaine laughed good naturedly, feeling Kurt slip his own arm around his waist, "Thank you all so much... but if we could just get a few minutes to talk to our parents, who are probably the most shocked right now, we would greatly appreciate it." He pulled at Kurt's waist, guiding him down the steps and over to where Burt was standing with Carol and Blaine's own parents.

The two young men stood there with their four parents in silence, a mix of emotions on each one of their faces. Kurt bravely spoke first, looking straight into his dad's eyes, "I'm sorry you found out this way. We were going to tell you, but Blaine _just_ proposed this morning after I went over to his house last night."

"Well," Burt sighed and lifted his hat off his head to scratch at his scalp before returning the hat back to its place, "I'm not saying that I'm not upset for not knowing, but I understand you would have told me soon... despite Rachel."

Blaine nodded enthusiastically, looking at his own parents in turn, "We were talking about how we were going to break the news in the car, and we both decided that we would tell you first."

"Oh, sweetie," the curly-haired woman whispered, "I know that. So I'm not mad about that at all... I just—"

"—don't like your shocked face," Blaine smiled, "I know, mom."

After a few more minutes of quiet talking and hugs, their parents thoroughly placated that they would have told them much sooner than anyone else, they moved to mingle again. They received almost too many hugs to count, especially from Mercedes, and handshakes and more congratulations and questions about the wedding and even about when they were going to have kids (_only_ Santana would do that).

But at the end of it all, when they were able to pull themselves away from the crowd and have a private moment sitting close to each other in a booth, they let out mutual sighs of frustration—at Rachel.

"The nerve," Kurt muttered, trying his hardest not to glare at the woman standing at the foot of the stairs to the stage (where she could hop up if no one was on it).

Blaine nodded in agreement, rubbing his thumb over _the_ ring, "How did she even find out?"

The taller man shrugged, "We were just singing and dancing on stage and she bluttered it out. I was too shocked to try and deflect."

"It's okay, Kurt," he placed a kiss on the ring, smiling up at Kurt who kissed him on the mouth in return. "It may not have been how we wanted it—"

"At all."

"—but everyone knows now, there's nothing we can do about it."

Kurt smirked suddenly, eyes watching as Rachel climbed onto the stage, "Oh, I can think of a few things."

Hazel eyes followed Kurt's own blue gaze and Blaine could not help but smile, "Revenge is sweet then, isn't it?"

"Mhmm," Kurt hummed his assent, "Pay-back is most certainly a bitch, too."

* * *

**A/N: There it is. I hope that was what you were looking for! Sorry if I seem rushed, I need to leave soon to get to work! Haha!**

**I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading!**

**Until next time,**

**-Anjel Starlight**


End file.
